Issue 11:2

Miron Lakomy

Polish-Ukrainian Relations, Euromaidan and the Donbass Conflict: The Challenges for Warsaw

This article contributes to the discussion about the multidimensional consequences of the crisis and conflict in Ukraine. It focuses on the rarely discussed subject of the implications of the events in this country since 2013 for Polish-Ukrainian relations from Warsaw's perspective. This article has three major goals: firstly, to present the historical determinants influencing contemporary Polish-Ukrainian relations; secondly, to characterize the reaction of Poland to the events in Ukraine since 2013; and finally, to point out major implications of the crisis and conflict for bilateral relations from a Polish standpoint. The paper concludes that, contrary to many domestic official statements, the Ukrainian crisis and conflict brought more challenges and dilemmas than tangible benefits for Poland. Obviously, bilateral contacts with Kiev are nowadays much better than a few years back, but this does not mean that Warsaw profits greatly from this situation. Moreover, new and rather unexpected challenges emerged in these relations, concerning, among others, Ukraine's historical policy, the activities of right-wing extremists and the lack of prospects of joining the EU and NATO, which is a long-term Polish ambition for her neighbour.

About CEJISS

The Central European Journal of International and Security Studies (CEJISS) was founded by Mitchell Belfer (Editor in Chief), David Erkomaishvili (Deputy Editor in Chief), Nigorakhon Turakhanova (Head of the Academic Centre) and Petr Kucera, in December 2006, as an autonomous wing of the Department of International Relations and European Studies at Metropolitan University Prague. The initial goal was to develop, and project globally, a uniquely Central European take on unfolding international and security issues. This entailed an initial “out-reach” programme to attract scholars from throughout the four Central European states – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic – to participate in the journal as authors and members of the Editorial and (then) Advisory Boards. By the time of the first issue however, it became clear that CEJISS was also capable of acting as a platform for non-Central European scholars to present their academic research to a more regionalised audience. From issue 1:1 in June 2007 until the present, CEJISS has become, quite literally, a two-way street—it helps Central European scholars enter international academia and international scholars enter Central Europe. This is reflected in the diversity of our boards, authors and readership; and that CEJISS has, over a seven year period, gone from a biannual to a quarterly publication indexed in major scientific citation bodies such as SCOPUS and EBSCO and available in nearly 1000 libraries around the world.

CEJISS now reaches an estimated 45000 people (annually) in more than 180 countries. It has expanded its contents to include: 1) Academic Scholarship — between 6 and 8 peer reviewed, academic articles are published in each issue (in hardcopy and electronic formats) 2) Book Reviews — of the latest international and security literature by some of the leading publishing houses (in hardcopy and electronic formats) 3) eContributions—as short, non-peer reviewed, online commentary articles that reflect on international relations as it happens.

CEJISS is committed to Open Access and ensures that all of its contents – in both hardcopy and electronic formats – remain free: free to read, free to reproduce, free to print and free to quote. This has been made possible by the generous support of Metropolitan University Prague.